Not only is Blizzard releasing remasters of the first two real-time strategy games today, but it’s also bringing back Battle Chest, a bundle containing both games that was a stroke of marketing genius in the mid-’90s.
Before there was the Orange Chest, there was the Battle Chest. Before we had proper digital stores like Steam and Battle.net where we could buy games with a few clicks, we had to go into a physical store and hope they had the big, bulky boxes full of discs or disks we wanted. There was only so much space on shelves, which meant that new games often outstripped old ones – only the best-selling games could hold on to that vital, hard-earned vision. So, around 1996, Blizzard figured out how to ensure it would never have to compromise on its shelf space by making a box so large that it would stand out from everything else in the toy aisle — and then make it such a good deal that no one could afford to miss out on buying it. .
Blizzard’s first battle box is put together to expand Warcraft 1, Warcraft 2, and Warcraft 2 Beyond the Dark Portal. I suspect the original Warcraft wasn’t selling much at that point when it was up against the likes of Warcraft 2 and Command & Conquer: Red Alert, so Blizzard didn’t have anything to lose by throwing it in as a bonus. This strategy definitely worked for me: I already owned Warcraft 2, but I bought the Battle Chest to get Beyond the Dark Portal and experience the story of the first game that I had only read about in the Warcraft 2 guide. Besides, how cool was this giant chest??
The Battle Chest was clearly a hit, because Blizzard has replicated it multiple times. Included in the Brood War expansion is a StarCraft battle chest and two strategy guides; Diablo Battle Chest combines and expands the first game with Diablo 2; Even Warcraft 3 and World of Warcraft got Battle Chests in the 2000s as sales increasingly moved online. It’s been nearly 10 years since Blizzard’s last Battle Chest for StarCraft 2, but it seems Warcraft’s 30th anniversary was justification enough for the studio to bring back The Old Ways.
Or at least an old name. It’s unfortunate that the Warcraft Battle Chest released today isn’t a chest you can put on your shelf; It’s just a digital bundle available on the Battle.net store. But she still scratches the same “What a value!” React as the first one did. It includes not only Warcraft 1 and 2 Remastered, but also Warcraft 3: Reforged (and the expansions, of course), and is available today for $39.99.
